DANCING WITH THE STARS ALL-STARS marks the first time prior contestants will return for another chance at winning the coveted mirror ball trophy for a very special All-Star season. From former champions to fan favorites, including a celebrity voted in by fans, the stars and their professional partners will return to the ballroom on live national television during the season premiere of DANCING WITH THE STARS: ALL-STARS, Monday, September 24 at 8 p.m. ET/PT, followed by the premiere of DANCING WITH THE STARS THE RESULTS SHOW on Tuesday, September 25 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.

In a show first, fans will determine who the final All-Star cast member will be. The three celebrities vying to fill the 13th spot on the cast are Sabrina Bryan, Carson Kressley and Kyle Massey. Fans can vote for their favorite “Viewers’ Choice: All-Star” at www.ABC.com/DancingwiththeStars, presented by Diet Pepsi until Friday, August 24 at 12:00 p.m., PT, to determine which of the three celebrities will be named the final All-Star contestant. Once voting has closed, the final cast member and his/her professional dance partner will be announced live on GOOD MORNING AMERICA on Monday, August 27.

As announced today on GOOD MORNING AMERICA, the 12 out of 13 celebrities and their professional partners heading to the dance floor this season are:

KIRSTIE ALLEY partners with MAKSIM CHMERKOVSKIY, who returns for his 13th season.

PAMELA ANDERSON teams with TRISTAN MACMANUS, who returns for his 3rd season as a professional partner.

HELIO CASTRONEVES joins CHELSIE HIGHTOWER, who is returning for her 7th season.

DANCING WITH THE STARS: ALL-STARS and DANCING WITH THE STARS THE RESULTS SHOW return this season with new surprises and all the performance elements viewers have come to know and love: “Macy’s Stars of Dance” features some of the best choreographers and performers from the different styles of dance who offer viewers performances that represent the peak of achievement in their genres. The show also welcomes the return of the “AT&T Spotlight Performance,” which features and celebrates people whose lives have been changed forever by dance. AT&T is helping in the search to find these performers by allowing fans to nominate potential dancers.

Viewers may cast their votes for their favorite teams via phone on Monday night during and up to 60 Minutes after the DANCING WITH THE STARS: ALL-STARS performance shows. AT&T customers may also vote by texting the word “VOTE” and entering the number that corresponds to the team they want to support (message and data rates may apply). Online voting at www.ABC.com is open from the start of each episode on the East Coast and closes at 8:00 a.m. PT/11:00 a.m. ET on Tuesday mornings. Additionally, fans can now vote on Facebook www.facebook.com/dancingwiththestars. A custom Facebook app sponsored by AT&T will let fans vote, share who they voted for and why, as well as see who friends voted for. They can also access the “After Party: Dancing with the Stars” live stream, the DWTS Social Buzz page, and the AT&T Spotlight Performance and Casting Call from the app.

Also new this year is AFTER PARTY: DANCING WITH THE STARS, a 15-20 minute live show that takes place online at www.ABC.com/DancingWithTheStars, Facebook, and YouTube immediately following each Monday night performance episode. Sponsored by AT&T, this original online video show will feature a host, a panel of dance experts, show talent and celebrity guests breaking down the highlights of the night and answering questions via Twitter, Facebook and ABC.com.

1 comment:

There is so much wrong with these pairings, but I refuse to get worked up over a reality competition. I'm not quite sure why some previous winners are paired up with multi-time past winners, while others get newcomers (including Kelly, the only past winner who is being paired with a relative newcomer). How does the pairing of a past winner (like Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson or racer Helio Castronieves) with a multi-time winner not immediately make them more advanced teams from the start?

And it seems you should be either able to have your previous partner back or not, but not some/but not others. Those, like Bristol Palin, who are re-teaming with their previous partner, already start with a professional who knows their strengths and weaknesses, their best moves, their learning style, and exactly how to choreograph for them, whereas those getting new partners have to go through the signature "DTWS" rite of passage (which is sometimes more interesting than the show) where they have to get to know each other and learn to work together and trust each other (Mel B and Maksim being the best example of that) in order to get ahead. Bristol Palin is getting the same partner she had just a couple years ago, so they immediately start from a different place than couples who have to build their chemistry and design their choreography from scratch. They have shared memories, ideas, experience, etc. While I know that these pairings are probably harder to make up than they appear, I'm really surprised there appears to be no attempt even going in at a level playing field. Someone who hasn't been on the show for years and years gets a relative newcomer they've never worked with before, whereas someone who is relatively fresh off the show (within the last 1-2 years) gets to pick up exactly where they left off with the same partner.

And it seems to me that on a show with a combination of past winners and past runners-up, a fair way to even it up is to pair the winners with the relative newcomers and the runners up with the multi-time winning professional dancers.